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Last week we discussed the significant linguistic issue in the Vatican translation of the Pope’s Italian statement “Tutte le religioni sono un cammino per arrivare a Dio” which the live translator translated as “every religion is way to arrive at God.”
In English, this phrase is heresy, pure and simple.
The word “way” in English means a “possibility whereby” and “arrive” in English means to achieve a destination. This phrase in English means that idolatry is a way to God.
In other words, the 1st commandment of the Ten Commandments is null and void.
So, understandably, the Vatican’s English translation changed this phrase to say this: “Religions are seen as paths trying to reach God.”
This latter phrase, in English, is not heresy. “Seen” and “trying” are expressing attempts to reach God, not the possibility, and not the ability or power to do so. Before we move to what the Vatican did subsequently, here again is the full Italian paragraph which is the official Italian text and the original language, together with the video of some of these sentences (with the live translator):
Tutte le religioni sono un cammino per arrivare a Dio. Sono – faccio un paragone – come diverse lingue, diversi idiomi, per arrivare lì. Ma Dio è Dio per tutti. E poiché Dio è Dio per tutti, noi siamo tutti figli di Dio. “Ma il mio Dio è più importante del tuo!”. È vero questo? C’è un solo Dio, e noi, le nostre religioni sono lingue, cammini per arrivare a Dio. Qualcuno sikh, qualcuno musulmano, qualcuno indù, qualcuno cristiano, ma sono diversi cammini.
Note the bolded words and phrases in Italian. Here’s the video:
Below is a screen shot of the original English translation as I noted in my report last week. This was on the Vatican’s website on Friday, September 13th, 2024, when I wrote my article:
And what does the Vatican website say now? At the time of this writing on September 17th, here’s the new official English rendition:
First of all, the new English translation again omits the Italian phrase “ma sono diversi cammini (but they are different paths [to God]).” Yet now the English correctly translates the first two phrases in the heretical manner. “All religions are paths to reach God” and “…like languages, paths to reach God.” The English is not as strongly heretical as the live translator rendered it when he said “arrive at God,” but the English is still worse than the original English official text. So the most strongly heretical English was the live translator, the “new official English” is slightly less heretical, but not by much, and the “first official English” was not heretical at all.
It would seem that by changing the English, the Vatican is admitting that there is no orthodox way to interpret these words of Pope Francis.
(In pricipio erat Verbum. You see how important every word is? Indeed: there was once a worldwide Christian battle over one letter: an iota.)
Originally it seemed that someone in the Vatican who was in charge of English understood how heretical (and idolatrous!) these words would mean, so they changed the English to be orthodox. Now someone has changed most of it back to its heretical meaning, which cannot be uttered by a Catholic in English.
If there’s some nuance in Italian that someone can tell me, please do so, and save the Holy Father from this (at least) material heresy!
One Bishop’s Response
Archbishop Chaput, who published his public resistance to Pope Francis back in March, published a text yesterday in the same mainstream publication and had this to say:
Pope Francis has the habit, by now well established, of saying things that leave listeners confused and hoping he meant something other than what he actually said… Since his comments were extemporaneous, they naturally lacked the precision that a prepared text would normally possess, and so hopefully what he said is not quite what he meant.
Yes we should all hope for this out of reverence for the Holy Father. But each of us reaches different points where this reverent piety seems to go against a rational argument, and we need to admit that words mean what they mean. Reverence for a person – no matter how great he may be – must always subordinate itself to reverence for the truth.
But after this deference, the Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia had these words of resistance against the Roman Pontiff:
That all religions have equal weight is an extraordinarily flawed idea for the Successor of Peter to appear to support. It is true that all of the great religions express a human yearning—often with beauty and wisdom—for something more than this life…
Simply put: Not all religions seek the same God, and some religions are both wrong and potentially dangerous, materially and spiritually. Catholics believe that Jesus Christ, once and forever, revealed to all humanity who God is. He redeemed us by his death and resurrection, and he gave us the commission to bring all humanity to him. As our faith teaches very clearly, it is only Jesus Christ who saves…
To suggest, even loosely, that Catholics walk a more or less similar path to God as other religions drains martyrdom of its meaning. Why give up your life for Christ when other paths may get us to the same God?
…The bishop of Rome is the spiritual and institutional head of the Catholic Church worldwide. This means, among other things, that he has the duty to teach the faith clearly and preach it evangelically. Loose comments can only confuse. Yet, too often, confusion infects and undermines the good will of this pontificate.
…Christians hold that Jesus alone is the path to God. To suggest, imply, or allow others to infer otherwise is a failure to love because genuine love always wills the good of the other, and the good of all people is to know and love Jesus Christ, and through him the Father who created us.
I quote the Archbishop at length here to stress that the growing consensus of faithful Catholics – whether “Trads,” “conservative” or other labels – is to resist Pope Francis’s words and deeds.
No faithful Catholic does this without great fear and trembling, for he is the Vicar of Christ. Yet there is an obligation of reverence that is even higher than the Vicar of Christ, and that is Christ Himself.
For He who said I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jn. xiv. 6) also said he that shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed, when he shall come in his majesty, and that of his Father, and of the holy angels (Lk. ix. 26).
T. S. Flanders
Editor
Stigmata of St. Francis